Halloween Visit
by abaikgirl
Summary: Takes place in the Castle of Nations universe. Clarice comes to visit Climber on Halloween but a certain pirate interrupts their happy reunion. ClimberxClarice


The trees showered Climber with leaves. He didn't notice as he lay in his cart, staring up at the night sky. The music player Clarice had given him was clutched in his hands and his muddy eyes were only half open. There was a loud snap somewhere in the forest and he jolted out of his daydreams and memories. He sat up and looked around. It didn't look like anyone was there. It was then that the mannequin realized the cart he was sitting in was filled with dry leaves. He picked one up and was fascinated to see it was bright red instead of the usual green.

He turned his gaze towards the park where the lights glowed a bright orange against the inky blackness of the night sky. It had been a long time since Clarice had left. Was she alright? She did promise to come back someday and see him, but what if something had happened to her? Or she forgot? Or…or…

These worries were common for him. Having nothing else to do, Climber spent all his time thinking of her. Then again, even when he was in the asylum and running for his life, she was all he could think about. He sighed. It wasn't like he could go and look for her. Castle wouldn't let anyone leave the park and that would probably go double for him seeing as he already left once before and had to be retrieved by Dahlia no less. He shuddered. The statue was always in a sour mood and was one of the scariest people in the park. But she had brought him back….

Falling back into the cart, the leaves crunched beneath him. Nothing to do but wait.

"Climber?"

His eyes grew wide and tilted his head further back to look behind him. "C-Clarice!" For a scared moment he thought he was imagining things, but there she was. He jumped out of the cart and half-hugged, half-tackled her. She swayed ever so slightly as his full weight slammed into her. "Clarice, I so happy to see you!" he yelled.

Her hand grabbed the back of his jacket and with an effortless motion threw him on the ground. "I told you," she said, "No touching, remember?"

Wide brown eyes gazed up at her. He missed the sound of her voice, her brown hair that was always pulled back into a braid. Her disapproving frowns and small smiles. And the way she yelled at him, he missed that too.

She blinked as he laughed. "What?"

"It's just…." He stood up, fiddling with his hands. "I…. I didn't know if you'd ever come back."

Clarice sighed. "Figures." She raised a brow as she took a closer look at him. Touching the bullet hole in his helmet, a note of concern crept into her voice. "What happened here?" Then her eyes landed on the stitches on his shoulder and the staples at his waist. "What…Climber! What did you do?"

He flinched. "I…uh…. I left the park to try and find you and um…. it's kind of a long story."

Her fist slammed into his helmet, forcing his head down. "Stupid. You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Uh…s-sorry." He didn't mean to get damaged, but he had missed her so much. He wasn't sure if he should say that though because she might get upset. Climber was surprised as she wrapped her arm around his neck and rested her chin on the top of his helmet.

"I told you I'd come back, didn't I? So don't go off doing stuff like that."

"A-alright. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worried."

"I'm not worried." She let go and pushed him.

Stumbling back, he laughed. Then he noticed Clarice had something on top of her head. And her clothes were different. He touched the flat white thing tied to her head with a frown. "What's this?"

She took it off and held it up. "It's a mask, see?" There were eyeholes and what looked like a skeleton's face painted on it.

Climber took it from her and held it to his face. "Ferris wheel."

"It's Halloween which means everyone dresses up. I figured if I looked like this I could get in without getting attacked."

Lowering the mask, he frowned in confusion. "Hallow…what?"

"Halloween. It's a holiday we celebrate."

"What's a holiday?"

She sighed. "Forget I mentioned it."

"It's a good disguise," a singsong voice said from behind. The two of them turned around to look at the figure that emerged from the trees. "So good in fact, it even had me fooled for a little while." Karl's ever-present smile was smeared across his scarred face. A little black crow was perched on his shoulder, her red eyes gazing at them.

Climber moved so he was between Clarice and the statue. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Brown eyes filled with disgust, Clarice glared at Karl. "Talk about déjà vu. Haven't we done this already?" she muttered

"Who me? Oh I decided to leave pirate's island for a little while to enjoy the festivities. There's a lot of people here today you know." He put his hand to his shoulder and Arma climbed on. In a fluid motion she became a sword. "That's when I saw your dear Clarice and I remembered we never did get to become fully acquainted last time, now did we?"

"St-stay away," Climber said. "Or I'll…. I'll fight you!"

Karl's squealing giggle was enough to make Climber stiffen with fear. "Fight me? Deary me, I'm so frightened."

Climber glanced over his shoulder at Clarice. His pickaxe was still in the cart, buried under the leaves. He couldn't let Karl hurt Clarice. The statue raised his cutlass and charged at them. "Run away!" Climber yelled, pushing Clarice. She took off and hid in the trees. After her first meeting with Karl she knew all too well that the crazed statue was a force to be reckoned with. AS much as she didn't like it, she knew it would be best to leave this one to Climber.

With a yelp Climber jumped up and over the cart just as Karl's cutlass sliced downward. The weapon found only the wood of the cart and lodged into it with a sickening thunk. The leaves flew into the air as Climber tumbled into them. His gloved hands felt along the bottom of the cart in a frantic search for his pickaxe.

"Hiding are we?" Karl sang, dislodging his sword. There was a clunk as he put his foot on the end of the cart. Climber's hand closed around the long handle of his only weapon when he found himself sliding down towards Karl. The cart tipped towards the statue under his immense weight. The black sword sliced down at him, but he blocked it with his pickaxe. Karl leered at him. "I don't see why you're so worried about her," he said. "It won't be long before she tires of you."

His mismatched eyes narrowed in anger as he pushed Karl away. The statue laughed, undeterred by Climber's change in demeanor. Taking his foot away, the cart fell with a crash and Climber fell onto the grass.

With slow deliberate steps, Karl made his way around to the other side. "It's like I said before, humans don't care for people like us. We're just a passing fancy and when you no longer interesting to them." Arma changed into a spear. "They just leave you behind." The sharp weapon came down only to be knocked away.

Climber stood up, his weapon at the ready. "You're lying," he said. "You always lie!"

"Not always." The spear was a sword again. There was a clang as their weapons clashed. Swift and ruthless, Karl hacked away at Climber. His attacks were blocked every time but he was too fast for Climber to do anything but stay on the defensive. Karl sliced downward, but the pickaxe stopped the attack. With a twist of the handle, Climber held the sword in place. The statue grinned. "You know, there was actually a time when I did tell the truth, but then I learned an important lesson. Humans are never to be trusted." They struggled against each other, but neither was gaining the advantage. "Give it some time. Soon she'll leave you behind like the useless doll you are."

Muddy eyes narrowed, Climber pulled away. "Shut up!" His pickaxe curled back and hit Karl in the chest. The ceramic held up under his attack, but Karl stumbled back, a surprised but amused expression on his stony face.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I say something to make you upset? How careless of me."

"You are pretty careless," Clarice said.

Both of them stopped and looked. She grinned at Karl as she stood behind the cart. Or, from where the cart was. The wooden vehicle rattled its way down the hill, aimed right for the statue. His scarred eye twitched and he attempted to move out of the way a moment too late. The cart slammed into him with a crash and knocked him into the lake.

Climber watched with wide eyes and stood frozen until Clarice yelled at him. "Hey! Let's go!"

He jumped as if just remembering what he was supposed to be doing. "R-right." Running to Clarice, they took off into the trees. After a while, Clarice slowed, panting heavily. They had cleared the trees and were closer to the nosier part of the park now.

Still out of breath she laughed. "I told you I could take care of myself."

"But I…Are you sure you're ok?"

She stood up straight. "I'm fine, as long as that statue stays away from us."

Us. She had included him in that statement. Climber's face lit up with a huge smile and he pulled Clarice into a smothering hug. She struggled to get away in vain. "What? What did I say?"

"I'm just so glad you're back," he said, practically jumping up and down with joy. He let go of her and gave her a big smile. "And I promise, I'll be really useful this time and keep you safe."

Clarice blinked, then smiled as well. The sight of the expression gave Climber the urge to hug her again. He loved her smile more than anything and the fact that it was hard to get Clarice to smile made it even lovelier. "You haven't changed." She took his hand and pulled him forward. "Come on. I don't want to just stand around all Halloween."

The gesture took him by surprise. Clarice didn't like touching, but she was holding his hand. A warm glow filled him and he beamed. Following her, he forgot all the terrible things Karl had said to him. Clarice wouldn't leave him. They were the best kind of friends there could be. The kind that were in love.


End file.
